Artificial arm and hand.



M. E. CRO-NEMILLERL mmcm ARM AND mmo.

APPLICATIDN FILED FEB-9,1916.

' PatentedMay 8, 1917.

suzns-suzn 1.

' stun/M01 loses li'fiarlemhll'ery Minoan-"Emma. ARTIFICIAL ARM ANDHAND.

Ilol. mm H18, 9. me.

Patented May 8, 1917.

a swans-Super 2.

gmmwkoz A106 :3 Cro n eh 71 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-& Teal; whom, it may concern:

'5." forroperating and controlling the wrist of the hand'gupon theartificial forearm; to im rovements in the finger operatingmechfioifamsm whereby-the joints of the fingers may".'*-*9onfonn-'inore' nearlyin operation to the movements of the naturalhand and to the construction of the harness by which the movements ofthe parts are effected. ""25" '-Other objects will appear from the fol-'f lowing detailed description of my invention iiiicbnriedion with theaccompanying drawin whichi u e 1 is a side elevation of an arm and 80'hand embodying'my invention, a portion of :i 'l h'twrist being brokenaway to show the ojjei"ati1ig'cords; Fig. 2 is a side elevation geniesame with the parts turned at right ar'1'gles"to that of Fig. 1, andwith a portion ""35" of the forearm broken away to show the opfifigeiating lever mechanism; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the thumb andcontained leyer;niechanism; "Fig. 4 is an enlarged per- "jiebti've viewofa portion of the hand showfih"gthe finger-operating mechanism Flg'. 51s 'an 'enlarged plan view of the inner side of the .Plate in the outerend of the forearm Wltl'l the ,attachedwrist-controlling mechanism; J is'af'fsectional view on the line 66 Figl'5fFig. 7 isa sectional view onthe ,..,],i,n e ,Z 7 of Fig, 5; Fig. 8 is a plan View of i htlielgidplate in the wrist; Fig. 9 is an enfi"-e,2

.la' rg'e dperspective view of the locking deefltofldcking the wrist indifferent poas it is shifted forward or back- .lflwaig'dr-Jfig. '10 is alongitudinal sectlon one of the fingers to show the lever mechanismforbendi'ng the oints; Fig. 11

. is; a v sid eelevation of the forearm showing ,55 the'gniding pulleysfor operating cords Specification of Letters Patent.

'E'Be it known that LMosns E. Cnonnmru ;a:L 3zR ,a,.citizen ofthe UnitedStates, residing passes through the bracket 17 and the MOSES E.CRONEMIL1lEB, OF PA'I'TON, PENNSYLVANIA.

ARTIFICIAL ARM AND-HAND.

Patented May 8, 1917.

Application filed February 9, 1916. Serial No. 77,271.

at the elbow joint; Figs. 12 and 13 arc back I andfront views of thesupporting and operating harness; and Figs. 14 and 15 are detail viewsof certain operating parts.

The artificial hand comprises a main portion 1, to which the thumb 2,and fingers 3, 4, 5, 6 are pivotally connected. 'The actuating leverslof the thumb and fin ers'are connected by links to a rock-sha t 8 ex-"tending transversely across the body part of the hand, 'this shaft'beingconnected by a link .9 to a pulley 16 pivoted in a bracket 12 and towhich'the operating cords-are connected. As appears from Figs. 1, 4 and10, the finger joints are pivoted to each other at 14 and 15, while theinner joints are pivotally mounted upon the transverse rod 16,

carried by brackets 17. The outer finger joint a.'is operativelyconnected to the intermediate joint 12, by toggle links. 20, 21pivotally connected ata: and pivotally mounted at opposite ends on pins18 and 19; and the intermediate finger joint I) is operatively connectedto the innermost joint 0, by toggle links 23, 24, pivotally connected at3 and pivoted at opposite ends on pins 22, .25. The outer links 20 and23, of the toggles are connected by connecting-rods 26, 27 respectivelywith cars 28, 29 on the sta tionary brackets 13 and 17. The rod 16 pins15 and pass through the bracket 13. A link bar member 30 connected at 31to the innermost joint'c, and swinging upon the pivot rod 16, isconnected by connectingrod or link 34, with the rock-shaft 8.

- It will be seen, therefore, that if the link 9 is moved in thedirection of the'arrow in Figs. 4 and 10, a pull in the same directionwill be exerted by the rock-shaft and connecting-rod 34, upon theinnermost joints 0 of each of the fingers, causing them to swing on thePlWt-I'Od 16 upward toward 'the palm of the hand, i. e., upward in theform the fore-linger with. only two joints or sections, asjindi'cated inFigs. 1 and 4.

.By referring to Figs. 1,3 and 4, it will be observed thatthe outerjoint a of the thumb pivoted at 4-0 to the inner joint I), and thelatteris pivoted at {l9 to the main part 1 of IllQlliilULlllGu'iovcments being guided by the pin 4-1, A lever-bar held by the pivot40 and a pin it] is pivotally connected at 47 to a. link 48 whichslidably fulcrums upon a pin The inner end of the link 48 is connectedby a link 50 to a rock arm 52 confore, the shaft .1-

irally pivoted to the standard or bracket 54, the lower end of the arm52 being connected by link the I'()Cl'\ shaf hen, there rocked by a.pull on the link 9 in. the direction of the arrow in Fig.

4, to cause the joints of the fingers to fold -o\'er toward the palm ofthe hand in the manner previously described,- the link 56pushingiuponthe lower end of the rock lever 5?, will cause the upper endand the link 50 to more in the opposite direction, as indicated, andthis \vill"'(:ause the lever link 48 to slide on the fulcrum pin 49,pushing upon the lever 45, which rocks upon the pivot -10 and bends theouter joint a'- inwardly to-' ,ward the palm. The thumb thus bendsinwardly simultaneously with the fingers to cor operate with them ingrasping an object. or

to close tightly againstthe palm of the hand,

orto close against the palm of the hand.

The closing or openin movements of the fingers and thumb are e etced bythe rotary -movement of the pulley disk 10 in one directionor the other,by a pull upon either the cord 61 or the cord 62-. These cords, whichare preferably rawhide, pass centrally through the wrist portion andthen through grooves or channels upon opposite sides of the fore arm 60,and are fastened to straps of the harness passing about the neck andshoulders in the manner illustrated in Figs.

'12 and 13L The hand is pivoted to brackets 67, 68, secured to oppositesides of the \lm member 70 and may be aclpistetl in different angularrelations thereto by means of the springpressed dog or catch '71, whichengages one or another of the holes in a plate'72. see Fig. 9, and may bunlatched by lifting the finger piece 73.

' The wrist-member T0 is provided with a base plate '75, having a flangeT5 which surrounds a flange 78 projecting from the plate 34-, on the endof the fore-arm portion and having a central apertuie surrounded by anannular flanger79 threaded to a hollow stem 82, projectingfrom themiter-gear S4. The

miter-gear 84 is secured to the end plate-86,

on the forearm by means of a nut S7,'tl 1rea'ded upon a hollow stem 89,projecting from said plate 86, the nut bearing upon a loose ring 91,which engages an internal flan 85 on the miter-gear. This constructionorms a secure conneetionbetween the wrist-memher and the forearm whilepermitting "the miter-gear and wrist to rot-a e freely-about the hollowstem 89.

For the purpose of causing the hand'andf wrist to partially rotate,simulati-"nfg; 'lhe movement of the natural handfas the-fore.

arm is moved upwardly upon-:thogelbow hinges, I provide a spur-gear"1O0, with actuating, mechanism in a recess i'n'the' -outer point of thelever 116, which is pivoted at 117 and connected by alink 1I8,;with theelbow lever 120, rovision-being-made for lost motion by 'a' shot 119.-The re]bow lever 120, is pivoted at 121 to. a bracket 123,'and securedin any suitable mannontothe upper arm member 125.: It will be apparentthat when the forearm is'swun .upw ardlv' to-.

ward the up )er-arm,-the lin 111-5 will first be shifted 'rearwardl v'tothe opposite or rear side of the pivot 121 and then moved toward theelbow, swingin'gthe, lever 116 in the direction of the arrowin Fig.:;' 2thereby iexertin' a pull-upon the link 115 and open ating tiroughthe-lever 11.0 to rotate the spi'ir-gear 81 in-amesh therewith, itl n'iseilecting a partial rotation ofthe hand and wrist. The parts maybe soproportioned that the hand 'willbe turnedv about while the forearm moresupwardly through the same angle. a v f. v

It is sometimes desirable to disconnect the mechanism which ,actuatesthe mit'er gear to turn the hand and wrist and to Iockthe wrist in anvdesired angular relation with respect to thearm, 'Asone means foraccomplishing this purpose. I providethc system of levers'ishown indetail in Fig. 5, in connection with .the operating cord pull upon thecord ,63 attached to one end of a lever 130. centrally pivoted'to abracket 131, causes the other end of the 1, a

to beer upon thelevev 145 Swinging it ujjon its" pivot 14 6 andprojecting the" lock- 'ifiig pin 14,7 throu h. the arm plate 84, intjo011.6 of the holes t6 *thereby-loc'lithe Wrist in the desired align 1hrqsitlonf I Tieme'ehenis'm which a'ctuates the spurgear 100 and themiter-gee; 84 must be disengaged sininlteneonsly with'the locking of thewrist plate in order'to perm.it,'eny desired movement of -the forearm.To efiect; is. disengagement, the arm 136' of the th .hr 136, bearsagainst "one end of the bellen-ink .le,\ e1' 150, pivoted at 151, andformed at'the opposite end into a yoke 150' which embracesthe'sheft'IOLhe tween the spnr- I gear -1O0Eu 1id: the .elutch lever106. When 0 the bel lgcrgtn-k ieier lfis swung, uponits f pivo'tiiitghedirection of the arrow 1n Fig. 5 5,;tlie'y6kb end 1150 SlideS thelever or-clutch member- 106 iilongi'thej shaft 10L away from the sp gear00; the action of the s 'rin'g "1'52; ufit {the pin'108 moves out of.

' t e notch 1T09ihthgsp1ir 1; As the lever 1.36 swings laterally to e'ect the movement 'just described; the :mg; 154 of the lever 1156,iv'otedlet 1651, which is forced downwardly 4 y the spri 159,e1 idesoverthe top ofthe lug 1,58fon e lever 136(and' snaps behind it;-"therebypreventi'n the eetnrn of the systemf interconneete levels and thus leek-"-l 9$i i91 l 1 he Piniinebf the hdle's'; 1.49 and the ileirithedesired' posh wiiiietlre firearm may Joe-moved 1g and ments'oflathe'leversmlfil 110' and-links" 115 18;;=mere1yreausingthelever-106 to the theft without affecting the L m; heed, to iinlock the.rite. 3 endzc miect the spilt-gear with theectunt:

. iri'f letters in: Ithe .1 foiiear n, the letter is which control" thefinger-e'etuiitiig i m i 9,,ii1-the wrist plate 75, a

-si de of the maimed member;

8 l h drom h plite 0 that the chitlchlever 106 free to. moye t the shaft101.- The hand; end wnet.

own without Y'aficting them; t 'e' "mo'v'e rollers 66,-Betix ;een whicht egpms einotnmlk'po' t on, slid gear until the pin 108*6 10%? andwithdr wing-the n 147 fit the wrist plgte. The wrist an hind will, thenmove angularly inunison with the vertical movements of the forearm.

{gauges the "notch The harness which supports the artificiel arm and towhich the a'ctuetin' cords are attached, around the net j w the sh'oifl,eijs o: Ev wflfilfci' ii -{the shown m reare'n. front,- views ew ii-eup-amm mm-em:' up ported by stra 'e,1 LTIend I-ZB over the shou der.

pull y 1.0, are eonniii fi dt y ing 1 11 9 1 2 ec r d. t the n. at erear and irentresp ctiyelf f t t Wh 'e e'edr' 63 which controls thelocking c thewrist and the disconnectingof thefwri ectuefting K e'p Hi3,cured to the harness at. the 'frohtof the mechanism, is connected to stfshoulder of the opposite onwh ole grid, The

' the desired 'pnlls u on the operati gwcorde by .r'er ticall streps 1 5and 176, eonneetedihy the 7' The l -r le 6.1" 5,3;

the under-arm strep 177;, gen

sidefrom the maimed men) i g" rm-1y held: by 1 wet-Med" qr.

'- belt-I7 8.

er, weathermfeet the. i oifement sof the forearm, wriejt. the

nd nge will n'de i t 1 t foregoing detailed descr'fwearer has lost. onlythe movements of the fore arlnr'wil Q. i. Q0111 end th fertifiii then m-hielj w rece ve. the J effected rne ally, he artifi ial being t v r 2 Mst n e ree; the-Pee? 121, as indicated in Fig, 2 at the se ne'time thepull upon. the cord 61.11130. not disk or pulley1'05-iii'fthedi-1fecti0i iii-re n in Fig. 4. .i'vh'ich cen see. the fi',rs

' and thumb tdnnove in-te the 1305mm].

The degreeefinoi enient.of'the fingersfdepends upon the i 'modnt'ofmtertical' mica-1einent impr nted to the forg ving- 11 fiilg'fQrthepersorifmn first cause the 'te'rearn to more, part} is have-lhent mu!tsit mg, theltmmie'bodily llflfltl-i the, bend sot:

'rnulnlfs tllv-ohjt'rt to ho graspmlant {finally mow the forcari-nsullicirntly to tightly ;'1 hp'lhc object. I

z' 'lhc tort-*arin Ina) ho mor al at oncu to the '5 dsirrd height orpositimi hr the tension ;a tlifl'urtnt ccutor from the pivot 15, upon\\'l]l(ll tho finger joint- 6 turnsg' a morcn'n-l'lt of the jointpl), inthe direction of the arrow in .Fig. 10, will cause the link 26 to pullthe car 20' of. thc togglc link 20 "inward upon the strap 171 and. coral(31 through tll( ":ll1 l cause the toggle 20. 21 to buckle or m vforwardnim'mnent Uf,tl1 $l.'l.l1ll]) in the n'n'urhcnd at its pivot connectionin. 'Iihis1rmvonor above loscrlhcd.the fingm-s living sinnil nn-ntcauscsthe outer finger joint; a to bend tant ously bent or .lohlcd into.clostwl fposltoward tho ioil'lt I). turning upon its pivot IO ti'on' bytho pull of the cord (ll. actingon 1- The strainupont-hepii ot.14cccmnccting 75 ""1111? pullc dusk 1-0. The lii'lgcrs nu thou the joints aand '7), is relieved both'nuthr he-"iii'pcnct["toany (licsiredt-Xtrut.-\\'-hi lo-i'nain mg .h, inks \vhichare pirotcd atllfi'ainl .19.faiilling the raised position. of tho fQlQilll'il-Y to the rospectifvejoints. and also hr the op in? tho following manner. livmaisi'ng 'tlicrating-or"tension."link 26. which is (-,on

' I shoulderadjacbnt the artificial. arm" a pull ,mtqd'r-o-tlw ear-aoand to the bracket g5 m' 'tonsion will be exerted upon the strayrll'ilfattinhetl'to the first or inner ioint Morealhklf tllr' attached cord(32. while the fermion titer. it" will ln ohsc rrcd that lnv svst'em ofupon the 'st-ra-p (")1 isrm'respm'ttlingly slaclclink connectionsremains entire l'i within the shr ll with theresult that the pulley diskcontour of'the finger joints during all more 10 js'turn'ed in the-ppositc direction from. ments of the lingers which contrillutcs. to the3, the arrow in Fig. 4, thereby causing the mgpcara'nce of the hand.will he undvrlingers to open. desired; the fingcrs can stood of course,that all'of the Various parts he again closed to ,Q'lip a uohjeot:. bylowerof the hand and arm are provided With a ing: the 'ncx'iouslyi'a'isetl 'shoultlera-nd thus smooth outer covering of.suitahlc"1naterial 25- lhosning the tnsion'up n cor-(l (l-land, pullandtexture so that they will he ncat. at- 90. j nguppn "tho cord (31. Thusit will he soon tractiiw and. i1icpnspic'nous.. Another i'cz'u t,hat thofingers and. thumb nntv-lrtwopcncd -tur-e which contributes-to thocouipactl'iess andrlosed at \iill 'htraising' and loweringof'thcniechanism contained Within the the shoulderadjacent the artificial arm.structure of. t he,hand residcsin thc'lnanner A As I have previouslyexplained. the operv of arranging the system of .levrs whichspluz-gea'rltltlg so thatth'e movements of the iiore-arln nillnot-rausefany angular -1nove-f pmcntsaof. th twist and hand. b'y-raisingthe actuate the fingers and the simplicity of the actuatingmechanismQall' bging controlled by a singlcv fiat pulley disk 10 whichis mounted withinthe palm portion of the,

shoulder, upon the cpp'ositc' side from thehand, .There are nog'ears orother tleric'es artificial ar i l there n"pausing-a tension or toprojectbeyondthenormal Contour of a pull upon the cordGSJu'hichalsmcahsestheha L I, i p pin H17 to loc-k theurist'in'tl1crlesired po=In rd t id fli i t mechanism .j. sition. It ill b obsc'lve'cl that? "thecords for controlling the swivel or twisting mow; 4O (32 and63i15as$lovrg'uidc rollers 62' and ments oft-he Wrist upon thefore-arin' within I 63respct'iyely carried by brackets adja a. small compass, so that thewristcan be 5 cent. t-hs Ielbon bingo, s'o'that notension is made of thenormal size I haved'vised' the "placelipon thesecords by thefmovementssystem of iinterconnect'ed levers shown in f the ior-arm, ')n t-h'o't-htfhand 'theplan "iew-in-Fig. '5 and I have so arranged 45 guides66flfor the; cord 61 are carried by the them that rtheyare distributedover a com- 1 10 -,leyer at a distanc' frointl'ie 'lb'ow hingeparativelysmall superficial area. Theena-o ;;1 21,,s that; a forwar'tlino'vernent of tire system of levcrsis. controlled by-a single the-11p)cr.a1111- nndr the control of the fcord 63 which operates by a, single"pulley -oerson' s stump; p a e f tiai l'i and leverageto--simnltianeously;disengage the wrist turn- 50 line tdsaid .dista-ncfrom th" e11: ow pivot, ingmechanism-.- and. lock th i $0 5 ,hich;causes ,the upward moiet'n'intof the fore-arm in the desired angularrelation. :iore-amn. i i 'i The actuation of (the,swivel'movments of p'l h iacl antages deri cd from ho use" of the wrist to automaticallyturn the hand -'=my iinpror'cments will be apparel .t to thoseso that'th'epalm W11I' bB toward the face b5 farniliar .with, thet construction'and operflwhen the forearm is raised, simulatlng the 120 -tijon.ofartificia-l' limbs and also by engineers movements offthe naturalarmand "hand, familiarwithnthc principles of-z nechanjcah is eflectethbi -a singleline of-levers and "devices. The lsystcin of toggl';annections "linkswhich are connected to the elbow hinge a'nd'links.connctin ,the joints of the 'I'netnber 120. *By providinlg bhedlnk 11880 "gers, shown indetaipin Fig-1Q, not qnly af: with an extended slot'12 3, @p-xoylde a-ccr- 125 'fords great. strength to t-lieffin'g'ers',but. 1)}6- taiin' amount of 10St .m0t1 O n wh chf permlts .-tluccsHWIIIOIQ powerful and feflicicnt a non th' fore-arm to stung sl ghtlybackward than priorqderices with whj'c'h Ilatn famila.nd'*forwardwithout actuating-the levers 'i'ar; I have e$plainedthat since the;link" *controlhng the ,wrlstswivela' It; wlll be un- 13.

6 26, pivoted in the bracket 28, swings upon d'erstood that that'isforthepurpos'e of -per'-.

a will appear, therefore, that I have greatly simplified the mechanismfor actuating and controlling the movements, of artificial hands andarms and at the sametime, I

, have. made the operating mechanism more eflicient. I have described indetail the con struction illustrated in the accompanying drawingsfor'the purpose of fully disclosing an embodiment of my invention, but Iam aware that various changes and modifi-- from the spirit of myinvention.

cations may be made therein within the scope of my claims and withoutdeparting I claim:

1. An artificial hand having a plurality of fingers each composed of aplurality of pivotally connected joints or members, a toggle leverhaving its links pivoted at their outer ends to adjacent'finger members,and an actuating link-rod connected to the outer toggle link and to apart separate from said ad acent members. a 2. An artificial hand havinga plurality of fingers each composed of a plurality of pivotallyconnected joints or members, a toggle lever having its links pivoted attheir outer ends to adjacent finger members, and

- means directly connected with said toggle lever for causing it to foldor bend when the finger is swung toward thepalm of the hand.

3. An artificial hand having a plurality of fingers each composed of aplurality of pivotally connected joints or members, toggle leversconnecting the adjacent members, a rod extending transversely across thehand upon which the innermost finger members are pivoted, a link barmember secured-to said innermost finger joint and pivoted on said rod, arock-shaft, and linksconnecting said rock-shaft with the said link barmember.

4. An artificial hand having a plurality of fingers, each composed of aplurality of pivotally connected joints or members, a rock-shaftextending transversely of the hand, links connecting said shaft with therespective fingers, a rotary disk mounted to rotate in the plane of thehand, and a connecting rod or link pivoted to said disk and to saidrock-shaft respectively.

' An artificial hand having a plurality of fingers, each composed of aplurality of pivotally "connected jomts or members, toggle-leversconnecting adjacent members, meansfor causing said toggles to bend orfold when the fingers are moved toward the palm of the hand, arock-shaft extending transversely ofthe hand, links connecting saidshaft with the respective fingers, a rotary disk mounted to rotate inthe plane of the hand, and a connecting rod or llnk pivpivotally oted tosaid disk andto said'rock-shaft respectively; v

v 6; An artificial hand having a plurality of fingers, each composed ofa plurality of connected joints or members, toggle-levers connectinadjacent members, a connecting rod or lin connecting the inner toggle ofeach joint with a bracket on the body ofthe hand, andia connectin rod orlink connecting the outer toggle with a fixed part on the innermostjoint or memtioned gear-wheel to cause a swivel wrist movement, lockingmeans adapted to prevent'said swivel movement, a system of coactingleversadapted to simultaneously shift said clutch device out ofengagement with said first mentioned gear-wheel and to actuate saidlocking device, a latch to automatically hold said systemof leversin'moved position and having atrip-arm in the path of said clutch devicewhen in disengaged position, and means under control of the wearer forvactuating said lever system and for causing said clutch device toengage said trip-arm.

8. The combination in an artificial arm of a fore-arm member, a rotarygear-wheel carried' upon a shaft mounted in the outer end of saidfore-arm member, a c1utch device loosely mounted upon said shaft andnormally spring-pressed into operative engagement with said. ear-wheel,a wrist-member swiveled upon t e outer end of said forearm, a gear wheelcarried by said; wrist.- member and meshing with said first mentionedgear-wheel to cause a swivel wrist movement, an elbow lever pivoted tothe upper or inner end of said fore-arm, a pair of levers pivoted to theside of said'fiore-arm and connected by a link, one of said levers beingconnected to said clutch device, and a link connecting the other leverto said elbow of a fore-arm member, a rotary gear wheel carried upon ashaft mounted 'in the outer end of said member, an actuating memberloosely mounted upon sald shaft and normally spring-pressed intovoperative en- I gagement with said gear wheel, a gearwheel rotarllymounted 1n mesh with said first mentioned gear, a wrist-member 'se- 1301 fol-min cured iipbn the hu b bf said last mentioned gear-wheel, anelbow lever pivot/ed to the up'per or inner end of said ion-arm and isswung 'upon said hinge-member, and

"means under control of th wearer for m0v-- an 'elbow 'hinge-member,lever mechamsm connecting said actuating mem her and said elbowhinge-member to there by actuate said gears when the fore-arm ing saidactlm along said shaft 10 to disengage it mm said first mntionedgear-wheel. V v 1 -In testi'm y whereof I aflix. my signature .inpresence of two witnesses.

' MOSES E. CRONEMILLER.

Witnesses; I

CHARLES C. Cnoxnmmmn, WILBER F. Sfiom,

